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The Temperance Laws Of Michigan

The Temperance Laws Of Michigan image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
April
Year
1874
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The lavs agaittst the manufacturo and salo oí' intoxicatiug liquor iu Michigan hayo bedii so littlo eïifdrced that many ra Aó not know what thoy are, aud the woiuan'a movement has directed iiuivo!1.-,:-.! attention to tho temperonoe questiou, the inquines as to provisión-, :ro frequent. To answor these mqniriep we have prepared the following f the lawa of the State iu rslation to the liquor traffic, using for that purpose the edition of 1871 of the Goinfjiiled Laws of Miohigan, edited by Hou. Jami s 8. Des oy. The principal of these is the luw of 18öi, with the niiioudhients and additions made to it in 1861 and I87J. Tlüa enactnieot jiTohibit tlie manufacture or sale of any spirit uous or ntoxicatmg liqüors or any mixed Iiqnor8 a y.nvi of which ia t,i)""'tl1" ou or iatuxicatiug. T!:. ' exceptiOns u, this geueril probibitiou are those allimiug tLo ïrtlcof liqaor for medicine by druggibts, ander regulatióna wiiich we heru&fter ipeciïyj the stilo of foreign li (jiiorR, bliported in aceordance with the ),V5 of the Unit'jd States, iu their originnl puckageÉ ■ and the manufacture of ciilcr, winc from grapes or fruits growu i,r gftthored by the maiiufaciuror, and heerfree trom all othcr intoxioatiug liquors. j'-ut siu:h beer shall uot be eold Jri lesa quautitiea than fivo gallons, uor wine aud eider in less quautitiea than ono pailón. The penalties for the violation of the uw are as fullows : Every per6on who Bella liquor or keeps it i'or saie ahall, on conviction, be fiueii $'2ö aud costa i'ur ibe tirst offense, $ M and coat for tho aeuoud, HodflOOand eosts for every subsequent conviction, nud must at ouce be comuiitt:d to jiil until lie fines and costs are 31. lid. all oonvietions after the two firat an atiditiosiul penalty of iuiprisouim;nt of not lesa than threo 01 moro than mx ïtioiitlis is jmiscribod. A person pubüely dr-uuk sball be tined 0 and costs or knprisoned tor not more than twenty Uays. A munut'actui'er or "eoinmon sel!i r" ot' liquor shall, on eaeh conviution, bo flued doublé the amount above specilied, aud on all couvietions after the iirst two be ituprisoned six months. All oases arising under tUe law can be triöd bofore any justiee of tho penco, municipal ur poli'jo court, or circuit court, and it is made tiio duty oi' the city attorueyBr aldermen, tho trustees of villages and the supervisoraef townehipsknowing of tiolatiou of the law, or on being Bervod witli affidavit of sueli violation, to instituto Buit without deUy. Tho law further provides for the employment of nttorut'vs to prosecutu sucli suits, and the charge of fues (not above $10) as part of the costs öf tbs deiendan t. In inaking complaint it is not necessary to describe the particular liquor soid, or to state thu day on which, or the person to wliom, the liquor is sold, nor is it nècesSiry to prove these poiuts on the trial. - Witness and jury fees need not be tendered in advance. If the defendant appeals a case he tnnst give a recognizance of $200, with two good and sufficient sureties, that he will not viólate the law during the pendency of tho appeal, and it is the dnty of the piosecuting attorney of the county to bring suit for the breacb. of tho recognizance, if any occur. Any person who gives away liquor with intent to evade the act, who solls as clerk, agent or servant of another, who solicits or eneourages intemperato persons to drink, or who places liquor whero an intemperate person may obtain and drink it, with the intention that he shall do so, shall be subject to the penalties of the act. Any person who is fouud intoxicated in any placo except a privato dwelling-house, or whose wife or child shall niake complaint that he has been found intoxicated in a dwelling-house, may be comptílled to appear and testify, 011 oath, where, when and of whoni he received the licuor, aud i warrant ahall be issued against tbo pcrson who is irnplicated by this testimony. Any public officer whose dutyü isto enforce ihe luw, irhosliaU refute or neylect todo so, shallbe punislied as fora misdemeanor, and may uho le adjudged to have forfdted las office. We have referred above to the exceptiou allowing druggists to sell spirituous liquors as medicine. The provisions regulating that salo are very carefully drawn. Ouly those v lióse principal business is the sale of drugs and medicines are permitted thus to sell, and they ouly after having given u, boud of not lossthan $500 in a tow.uship, or $1,000 in a uity or incorporated village, with two or more suffioient gureties, which boud, in order tube valid, must be approvcd by the township board or city council. ïhe foriii ot' the ■bond is prescribed by the Uw. It binds tho BJgner to teil no liquor except for laediciuc, or for scien tifie, mechauical or mauut'u;turing purposes, or wine for sacrunientulut-e ; not to sull to a minor, without the written order of fathor, uiother, guardián, or faiuily physician ; nor to any porson in the habit ofgetting intoxieated. It nlso biuds the signer to ke3p a book in vinel) he shall record the names of all persous wlïo buy liquor, tho kind, and the declared object for whieh it was purchased. The sectiou furtlier provides that if the bond is .violated it shall be no protection against the law after its violation. It shall be the duty of the druggist to question the purchaser as to tbo uee for which the liquor is intended, and the penalty for answering falsely is the Bame as for selling liquor uulawfully. Another poi tion oí tho law is aimed at suppressing tho traflio by quito another method. It declares that all payments for liquors sold in ■violation of the law shall bo coni-idered as having been reeeiyed without consideratiou and in violntion of equity and law, and eau be reeovered by the person whomade the payïuent, bis wife, uhiïd, parent, guardián, busband ov employee ; and all sales, trans4'erB, luortgages, attachmente, eoutracts und agreeuents, of whatevei name and Dalure, the cour-idoration of whieh shall liuvu been, iu whole or in part, the sale or sgreeiuent to sell liquor, shall be utterly nuil and void agaiust all persons and in all cases, except whea notes or have passed i'or a duo and fair oonsidoration lito the ownership of persons who did Rot !;nov oi'the illegal consideration. ïo tliis secüon the Legislature, in 1871, addod a clauss modeled on the"Adair law" of Ohio, providing that a wife, rohiti # or any other peraoa injilted by reasori of tho intoxication of any person, can sue the seller of the liquor in BÍ5 or her namp, nnd can recover both aotual and oxemplary damagea, and making tlie psrsons renting their premisos to a liquor kpI'sf Hable jointly or so?erally with the selior. Besides tliis prohibitory law aro provisions scattered through tho statutes whioh fncidentally make teniperanee regulations. No person who uses intoxicating drinl;s as a bevcrago shall be employed by any railrond as its servant under a penalty of f25 for cach oífense. No spirituons liqnors eau bo sold in or brought into any juil, or the State Prisoncr furnnhed to any prisoncr, except as medicine, on a physiïion'e certifieate. No liquor ïiiaH bê S9ld witivin two miles of the place vlioJ3 any reüious sooiety is actuullyr.ssenibled for religious worship. . ít will bo socn that tho law of the State upon tliis subject is all that the most radical prohibitionist could desire We do not know how it could be more Wefnily frained than it ia to entirely prevent the. manvfauturo intoxictiting liquors, r,r its sale as a bovcrage, in tho State. The fact, that withtmeh a líiw, liquor mnking. and selling sliould be so open and geoetol is a coimnent upon the ■weakiiess ot' ftny legislation not sustained by general popular opinión, and suggests to tho activo titeada cf tomperanee that their work fshould not ba directed so much to secure inoro legialfttáon as to bring publio sntiiiiont up to the support aod enforoement'of the lavvs alrcady entxtcd. - Detroit Trü Secretary Kichaidson proposes let the ttOzioM publio know when he ruakes up his ruind to rntire. We await the an=nouncouieiif under 110 cousiderablo presgaro of restraiut. Liot it o&mGond r&lievx UI.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus